Indigenous Communities Fight Irish Coal Mining Co. Over Ancestral Lands

Indigenous communities fight Irish coal mining co. over ancestral lands

By Owen Conlon, Irish Independent

31 March 2005

Two indigenous tribes in Venezuela who are objecting to plans to mine coal in their region have warned a leading Irish businessman that they will hold him responsible if any harm comes to their community.

The Wayuu and Bari ethnic groups have petitioned Venezuela's president to withdraw mining concessions held by Caño Seco Coal, in which former Telecom Eireann chairman Brendan Hynes is involved.

The company holds almost 6,000 hectares worth of concessions in the Sierra Perija mountains in the remote northwestern province of Zulia, near the Colombian border.

It has been carrying out exploratory surveys and plans to begin mining for coal there later this year.

The seam in which the company is interested in lies near two rivers, the Maché and the Socuy.

However, many locals are bitterly opposed to the proposals, which they say will force 350 families to leave their land because it will pollute their only water supply.

Academics at a local university have also expressed fears that the mining will also destroy the main water supply for the region's capital, Maracaibo, a city of over 1 million.

"The coal is at the heart of the hydrological valley," says Coribell Nava, a biologist at the University of Venezuela in Maracaibo.

"The concessions that are being granted in the Sierra Perija would terminate our water source."

The tribes say mining in the nearby Manuelote region has already displaced many families and insist that the same will not happen in their community.

So far, residents have prevented workers from entering the area to mark out deposits, but they claim that Caño Seco has threatened to use the police to force them through if necessary.

The indigenous have warned that they will hold Mr Hynes responsible if anything happens to any of them.

"For any violent act or any death, he will have to pay under Wayuu tribal law", said spokesman Lusbi Portillo, who is a professor at Maracaibo's university.

There is some concern for Prof Portillo's safety after a local government official allegedly referred to him as 'a terrorist' during a public meeting called to discuss Caño Seco's plans last December.

It is also claimed that death threats have been issued against Prof Portillo and three other men, who are leaders of local tribal communities.

Violence in the region is common, and three trade union activists were shot dead across the border in Colombia just before Christmas.

According to Prof Portillo, Caño Seco has also hired armed men in order to intimidate those opposed to the mine.

The extent of Mr Hynes involvement in Caño Seco is not clear.

Those against the mine consider the ex Telecom Eireann and Sunday Tribune chairman as the figurehead of Caño Seco and he has been named as the company's president in some news reports.

When contacted, he insisted that the protestors' problem is with a government-owned mining firm and not with Caño Seco and declined to comment further.

However, Professor Portillo reiterated that their main problem is with Caño Seco and said that a demonstration was held outside the company's offices in Maracaibo last Saturday.

He also claimed that when an attempt was made to contact Mr Hynes via telephone, the businessman began shouting down the phone at them.

The protestors are travelling to the capital Caracas today (Thurs) where they will a seek a meeting with president Hugo Chavez to ask him to revoke Caño Seco's concessions.

Mineral-rich Venezuela is the second largest coal producer in South America and is believed to have massive untapped reserves in its more remote provinces.